Sebastian abojador



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. -s. ABOJADORL' MACHINE FOR PREPARING 0R RBDUGING AND GOMMINUTINGTOBACCO FOR OIGARETTES.

No. 485,483. Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

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"S2AB0JADOR. I MAGHINE FOR PREPARING OR REDUCING AND OOMMINUTINGTOBACCO- FOR GIGARBTTBS.

Patented Nov. 1, 1892;

UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SEBASTIAN ABOJADOR, OF MADRID, SPAIN.

MACHINE FOR PREPARING 0R REDUCING-AND COMMINUTING TOBACCO FORCIGARETTES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 485,483, datedNovember 1, 1892.

Application filed June 16, 1892. Serial N0. 436,916. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SEBASTIAN ABOJADOR, a subject of the King of Spain,residing at Madrid, in the Kingdom of Spain, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Machines for Preparing or Reducing andOomminuting Tobacco for Cigarettes and other Analogous Uses; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to machines for preparing or reducing andcomminuting tobacco used in the manufacture of cigarettes and for otheranalogous purposes; and its object is to provide a machine'which willfirst press or squeeze and so operate upon the tobaccostock as to divideit into narrow longitudinal strips,'thereby rendering it free from rigidleaf-stalks and filaments and bringing it to a condition for more readyfurther reduction second, to cut the thusprepared tobacco-stalk veryrapidly and to the necessary degree of fineness for making cigarettes,the organization of the-compound machine being such that the productthereof does not appear broken, uneven, or rough, there remaining nowaste, no solid stalks, nor veinlike filaments of the leaves of tobacco,nor dust-like particles, nearly every portion of the tobacco-stock beingreduced and cut with great uniformity, exactness, and perfection witheconomy of labor and stock, and as the stalk and vein-like filaments arereduced and softened along with the blade of the leaf and then cut to afineness suitable for manufacture of cigarettes the stalks and filamentsare utilized in the manufacture of cigarettes without prejudice to thegood flavor of the tobacco of the blade of the leaf, and this withoutbeing noticed in the manufactured cigarettes. Besides this the stalksand solid filaments, without the aid of the flavor of the conjoinedparticles of the leaf when treated and out up separately from the bladeof the leaf with my machine can be used without injury to the flavor ofbetter qualities of tobacco-stockfor the manufactureof the cheaper gradeof cigarettes.

My invention consists of a machine comprising a novel construction,combination, and

arrangement of grooved cutting, squeezing, and reducing cylinders, plainsqueezing-cylinders, feeding or conveying aprons, a comb, a stationarycutting-blade, and a cylinder furnished with spiral blades, all as willbe hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

My invention also consists in certain other novel combinations of partsin the said machine, as will appear from the following specification andthe accompanying drawings, in which latter- Figure l is a centrallongitudinal section of my improved machine for operating upon tobaccoand bringing it into a condition for use in manufacturing cigarettes.Fig. 2 isa plan view of the machine, the conveyer-aprons being left off.Fig. 3 is a broken side elevation of one side of the machine, and Fig. 4is a broken side elevation of the machine as seen on the opposite sideto that shown in Fig. 3. Fig 5 is a cross-section of the machine on aline back of the stationary cutting-blade and forward of the cylinder ofspiral blades. Fig. 6 is a cross-section in a line forward of the firstpair of cylinders and in rear of the grooved cylinders; and Fig. 7 is across-section on the same line as Fig. 6 is taken, but looking in anopposite direction and showing the pressure-bars.

A in the drawings designates a frame comprising bearings or supports forthe two sections A A of my machine, which may be designated as acompound machine, as the section A performs the preparatory treatment ofthe tobacco and the section A the finish ing and cutting of the same tothe required fineness for use in manufacturing cigarettes. The section Ahas rollers a a, mounted in standards at its front end, one above theother and a considerable distance apart. These rollers have differentoffices and will be hereinafter described. Forward of the rollers a a apair of cylinders 12 b are mounted in bifurcated standards. ranged tobear with considerable pressure by its weight upon tobacco passedbetween it and the cylinder 5', and this pressure is regulated by screws0 0. Around the roller b and the roller a an endless feed or conve erapron b of a width equal to the length of the cylinders is arranged torevolve. On the ends of the The upper cylinder is ar-' shafts of thecylinders 19 and b spur gearwheels (Z cl are applied for the purpose ofrevolving the cylinders positively in the direction of the arrows.Forward of the cylinders just mentioned a pair of concentricallygroovedcylinders f f are mounted in bifurcated standards, and the uppercylinder of this pair is allowed to exert considerable pressure by itsweight, and this pressure may be regulated by screws 0' c in the samemanner and for the same purpose as the first pair of cylinders. Thesurfaces of these cylinders have concentric grooves 9 cut in them to asuitable depth and at short distances apart, said grooves extending allaround the cylinders, they being begun at or near one of the ends of thecylinders and terminated at or near the other ends. The grooves occupythe entire surfaces of the cylinders less the width of the ridges formedbetween them, as shown. The upper cylinder-f is larger than the lowerone f, and its grooves should be slightly deeper than those of saidlower cylinder. The ridges between the grooves are formed with sharpslitting edges or corners, and as the ridges of the respective cylindersenter the grooves of the respective cylinders the tobacco is cut bythese corner edges into narrow strips as it passes between thecylinders, and while this is being accomplished the solid stems and thevein-like solid filaments of the blades of the leaves are so crushed orflattened or softened to a pliable condition by the cylinders onopposite sides of the matching ridges and grooves that the tobacco-stockis reduced to a proper state for being further treated and finally cutto that degree of fineness which is required for the manufacture ofcigarettes. On the shafts of the cylinders ff spur-gears c c areprovided, and the same gear with one another; and between the first andsecond pair of cylinders an intermediate pinion-wheel c is placed on ashort arbor 72., so as to gear with the lower wheels cl 0 of the firstand second pairs of cylinders, and thus insure the revolution of theupper cylinder of the first pair in the same direction as the uppercylinder of the second pair. The shaft f of the upper grooved roller isextended, and on this extension adriving-pulley G is applied for settingthe mechanism of the section A in motion. Forward of the mechanism justdescribed, which mechanism is comprised in section A of the machine, arearranged three pairs of cylinders in m m in bifurcated standards. Theupper cylinders exert pressure by their weight, and this pressure can beregulated by screws 0 c", and on the shafts of these upper cylindersspur-gears d are provided, through which the upper cylinders of therespective pairs are revolved. The upper cylinders of the three pairs ofcylinders are geared with the lower cylinders by spurgears d of thelower cylinders, and the gears (Z with intermediate pinions d on shortarbors k W. On the roller a and the lower cylinder m an endlessrevolving tobacco catching and conveying apron B is arranged. This apronis located beneath the first and second pairs of cylinders 11 b and ffof the section A of the machine, and is also extended forward far enoughto convey the prepared tobacco to the cylinders of the section A thusinsuring the catching and saving of all tobacco that falls down from thecylinders, while serving for conveying the whole mass of tobacco to thesaid section A for the final operation. Forward of the last pair ofcylinders, but in close proximity thereto, a stationary beveledgedcutting-blade O is secured across the machine on strong adjListing-screws n. This blade can be moved by the screws so as toregulate the degree of fineness to which the tobacco is finally out. Inconjunction with this blade a large rotating cylinder D, provided with agreat number of obliquely-set and spirally-arranged cutting-blades p isem ployed. This cylinder of blades is located forward of theblade O, andas it revolves its blades clip off the tobacco with shearing cuts to adegree of fineness, accordingly as the blade (3 is set away from orclose to the circumference of the cylinder of blades. Forward of thespirally-bladed cylinder a clearing device H may be arranged on theframe for scraping or brushing off any adhering tobacco from the spiralblades. Just forward of the delivery of the pair of rolls m m twobevel-edged pressure-bars I and J are applied. The bar I is mounted on aspring I, which rests on an adjustable support 1 resting on pressurscrews 1 and the bar J is forced downwa d by means of pressure-screws J.As the tobacco emerges from the rollers m it passes between these bars,and during the cutting operation these bars and the last pair ofcylinders exert a very firm pressure and grip upon the tobacco, and thusenable the cutters to act positively or keenly upon it, severing itwithout bunching, breaking, or roughening it. The power for operatingthe cylinder of knives may be derived from a small steam orotherengineand transmitted throughapulleyshaft E,on which are providedsuitable pulleys and atoothed pinion-wheelcF,which gears into anintermediate toothed wheel E and a large spur-Wheel E of the lowercylinder of the pair m of cylinders next to the cylinder D of blades, asillustrated in the drawings. Abelt G leads from a pulley d on the shaftE to the pulley G on the shaft f of the upper grooved cylinder f, andthus sets the gearing of the section A in motion.

In the construction of a given-sized machine it has been foundpracticable to use one hundred and twenty-five spirally-arranged kniveson a cylinder seventy-five centimeters in di* ameter, and with suchnumber of knives and proportion of cylinder the speed of the cylinder ofthe third pair miof pressing-cylinders may be such as to introduce tothe bladed cylinder and stationary blade thirty centimeters of tobaccoduring a single revolution IlO of the spirally-bladed cylinder. Thesection A of the machine may be arranged alongside section A, and thetobacco discharged from section A may be handled and passed between therollers of section A; but it is best tohave the sections A A arranged asshown. I

In the construction of the grooved cylinders it is found that it ispracticable to so space the grooves and ridges that the tobacco can becut to two and one-half millimeters in width and then passed to thesection A of the machine to be further pressed and squeezed and cut tothe proper size for making cigarettes.

With a machine constructed in accordance with my invention and having aspirallybladed cylinder of the diameter mentioned ten thousand kilogramsof tobacco suitable for cigarette manufacture can be cut from sunrise tosunset and double that if run day and night and in the most satisfactorymanner and with slight expenditure for power. A toothed plate or comb Kis applied forward of the grooved cylinders, so that its teeth K enterthe grooves of the cylinders and cause all adhering tobacco to be forcedout of the grooves and to fall upon the catching and conveyer apron, andthus the grooved cylinders are kept in an operative condition.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a machine for preparing andcutting tobacco for cigarettes and the like, the combination of the rearpairof feeding and pressure and squeezing cylinders,the grooved pressureand slitting cylinders, both pairs mounted in standards of aframe, thegears for connecting said pairs of cylinders, means for introducing thetobacco to the cylinders, and means for driving the grooved cylindersdirectly and setting the other cylinders in motion, a spirally-bladedcylinder, a stationary blade, and one or more intermediatepressing-cylinders, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the rear pair of feeding and pressing andsqueezing cylinders, the grooved pressing, squeezing, and slittingcylinders, both mounted in standards of a frame,

the gears for connecting said pairs of cylinders, a feed-apron, and anendless catching and conveying apron, a third pair of pressing andsqueezing cylinders, a spirally-bladed cylinder, a stationary blade, andmeans for operating said three pairs of cylinders and thespirally-bladed cylinder and the catching and conveying apron,substantially as described.

3. In a machine for preparing and cutting tobacco for cigarettes, thecombination of an upper large grooved cylinder, a smaller lower groovedcylinder, toothed clearing-comb, a rear pair of pressure and squeezingcylinders, gears for connecting the pairs of cylinders, means foroperating the cylinders and gears, means -for feeding the tobacco to thecylinders, and an apron for catching and conveying the tobacco passedthrough the pairs of cylinders, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for preparing and cutting tobacco for cigarettes, thecombination of the section A, comprising pressing-cylinders andsqueezing and slitting cylinders in pairs, and 7 section A comprisingpressing and squeezing cylinders in pairs, aframe for supporting theparts named, a stationary cutting-blade, pressing-bars, and a rotaryspirally-bladed cuttingcylinder, an endless catching and conveyer apron,and means for driving the cylinders and apron, all arranged upon saidframe, sub stantially as described.

5. In a machine for cutting tobacco for cigarettes, the combination ofthe spirallybladed cylinder, the stationary adjustable blade, drivenpressure-cylinders in rear of said blade and cylinder, pressure-bars IJ, and means for operating said spirally-bladed cylinder and thepressing and squeezing cylinders, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

SEBASTIAN ABOJADOR.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH A. SPRINGER, J. D. ALBERTIN.

